


A Nightmare To Reflect Upon

by shadyfox64



Series: Harry Potter Expanded [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Flashback To 3rd Task, Gen, Harry Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 09:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadyfox64/pseuds/shadyfox64
Summary: Harry keeps dreaming about Cedric's death at the Little Hangleton Graveyard during the 3rd Task of the Triwizard Tournament during Harry's 4th Year. Set in Harry's POV.





	A Nightmare To Reflect Upon

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Welcome to my very first fanfic here at A03. it is very fitting that my first A03 fanfic would be for Harry potter since I am a Potterhead. Anyways, I wrote this piece because II wanted to explore ideas and themes that may or may not been implied or shown in the Potter universe. I hope you guys enjoy it.

It’s happening again. Everytime I try and sleep, I always have nightmares about the fact that I’m back in the Graveyard in Little Hangleton where I witnessed a fellow student die right in front of my eyes. He was hit by a jet of green light and he fell to the ground dead, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. At the moment, everything went blank like a movie just finishing showing off the credits at a cinema. I opened up my eyes and looked at my surroundings. I was back in my bedroom, laying down in my bed, covered in a thick blanket, sweat dripping down from my forehead all the way down to my blue shirt, darkness hovering down on my face. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down and then, I wiped off the sweat of my forehead with my left arm as I tried not to think about the dream that I just had. Despite my efforts, I couldn’t do it. I guess reliving Cedric’s murder over and over again reminded me that his blood was on my hands.

Man, can you imagine what could’ve happened if I was able to save Cedric in time? We would’ve portkeyed our way back to the Quidditch Pitch where he would be surrounded and applauded by the entire Hufflepuff House. He would’ve gotten many praise by them for doing such a good job in the Third Task and then his parents would rush over and embrace him saying similar compliments about his performance. The Weasleys and the rest of Gryffindor House would’ve surrounded me and tell me pretty much the same thing. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley would’ve told me that they were worried about me and asked me if I was alright but nevertheless, they would be glad that I made it back safely. Besides Malfoy’s obvious complaints about how I didn’t die in the Tournament and Snape’s usual rant about how I’ve become more arrogant and a glory hound than my father, everything would have returned to normal. I wouldn’t feel guilty and I would’ve delayed Voldemort from resurrecting again.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. When I came back from that Graveyard after the 3rd Task last year, I felt like I was a Muggle soldier who just came back from war, a changed man trying to live a normal life amongst everybody else, but how can I? How can I live in peace when I keep on reliving my worst nightmares every single night? How can I live in peace when I know that Voldemort and his Death Eaters are coming out for me and everyone I care about? The answer to those questions is simple. I can’t. As long as they are still around to cause chaos and havoc in the Wizarding World and in the Muggle World, my life will continue to be in danger. My friends and everybody else that I care about would be in danger. With that said, I can honestly say that I can no longer smile and laugh as much as I used to when I arrived back to the Wizarding World fourteen years ago. Gone are the days when I was just an innocent boy excited to go to Hogwarts and learn magic. Whether you like it or not, war is coming and we have to do what we can to prepare and hopefully make it out alive.

Still, so much for being a hero. What’s the point of being a hero if you can’t rescue those you call your friends or classmates for that matter? I know some of the students (especially those in Hufflepuff) are probably still blaming me for his death and are likely spreading rumors about what happened between me and Cedric during the Third Task with their friends. Heck, even the ones that still call me a “liar” and an “attention seeking prat” are probably thinking the same way too.Well, I don’t blame them at all. If I was able to go back in time and see those people, I would’ve started off by talking about how I met Cedric back in third year and then give my apologies. How would I apologize to them you may ask? Well, I might say something along the lines of “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I let you down. I let all of you down. I’m sorry that Cedric ended up dead because of me. If only I was stronger then I could’ve saved him but it’s too late now. His death will probably haunt me for the rest of my life and that’s something that I’m already willing to accept. You don’t have to accept my apology but I wanted all of you to hear it from me. If there’s anything that I can promise all of you is that I will avenge Cedric. Whatever it takes. I will not stop and I will not rest until he gets the justice that he and his family deserves”.

After about ten minutes of reflecting on my nightmare, I pulled off the blankets off my bed, put on my glasses and started walking towards my bedroom window looking at the night sky in order to try and distract myself from my nightmare. I amused myself for a moment that Hagrid arrived with Sirius’s motorcycle, barging in the front door in order to tell the Dursleys that he would be picking me up. After packing up my things, Hagrid would hexed them with his umbrella giving them all pigtails and then the neighbors would hear their screaming as we both fly away in the night sky laughing. That would’ve made the memory of me witnessing Dudley getting a pigtail look like child’s play. Of course it would be fitting that Hagrid pick me up. After all, he was the one that picked me up from the lonely house surrounded by the big mass of ocean four years ago and told me that I was a wizard. He was the first adult friend that I knew I could go and have a conversation with.

As I continue to stare at the night, I felt the light of the moon was shining brilliantly. I had to admit, it was a dazzling sight to behold. I think that the moon was taking pity on me for relieving Cedric’s death every single night and so, if it were a person, I would’ve said my thanks and tell it to watch over me. As soon as the light disappeared, I glanced down from the window and looked towards my alarm clock that was sitting nicely on top of the bedroom drawer located next to me bed. It was 2:20 AM. I sighed. I dreaded going back to sleep knowing that I’m probably going to have another nightmare about Cedric but I knew that I needed to get some sleep. I made my way slowly towards my bed, placed my glasses next to my alarm clock and closed my eyes, not bothering to cover myself with the blankets.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a fun fact: I wrote this piece for my Creative Writing class as part of my portfolio around Spring 2019. Another fun fact: My professor is a Potterhead like me so writing this piece was fun for me to write. I have more potential Harry Potter fanfics up in my sleeve but it may take awhile because I need to make sure that I've gotten my ideas down first. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one-shot and tell me what you think about it. See you guys later.


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